Inspired by a whirligig toy, Stanford bioengineers have developed an ultra-low-cost, human-powered blood centrifuge. With rotational speeds of up to 125,000 revolutions per minute, the device separates blood plasma from red cells in 1.5 minutes, no electricity required. A centrifuge is critical for detecting diseases such as malaria, African sleeping sickness, HIV and tuberculosis. This low-cost version will enable precise diagnosis and treatment in the poor, off-the-grid regions where these diseases are most prevalent. For more info: http://stanford.io/2j2MDjM
"Hand-powered ultralow-cost paper centrifuge", Nature Biomedical Engineering, M. Saad Bhamla, Brandon Benson*, Chew Chai*, Georgios Katsikis, Aanchal Johri, Manu Prakash, *equal contributor.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41551-016-0009
Correspondence: (manup@stanford.edu)
